Awake
by Debb
Summary: An Exo awakens to find she is Guardian, tasked with defending the creatures of the Light against The Darkness. When she meets a fellow Guardian, a Titan, she wonders what it is to be a Guardian.
1. Kal

_We found you in Siberia and pieced you together as well as we could._

 _Are you able to travel?_

Awake.

Awake is something she has not known in a long time.

She stares, eyes blinking in the sun. Gears turn, motors move and something creaks. The sensation of brightness against her eyes, rock hard against her back, the wind causes the small cape on her shoulder to flap. There are cars around her, little more than rusted machinery left to rot. A bit like herself, she thinks. A relic of a time long since passed, abandoned and lost to the ages. She is here, awake, _alive_. She groans and holds her hand up in front of her face, flexes her fingers.

"That doesn't sound good," says a voice, somewhere above her head.

Her head snaps up, she reaches for a knife.

A gun clicks and she's looking down the barrel of a rifle.

"Don't shoot her! She's only just woke up!"

In front of her a flying device made up of triangles appears, its eye slot, a circle halved, narrowing as it examines her. She glares in return before another appears, this one shielding her from the first.

"We found this Ghost wandering in the ruins, she was looking for something. I think she was looking for you."

The device, Ghost, turns to face her. It closes its eye, she would swear it does it shyly, backing away.

"What are you?" she asks, propping herself up on her elbows. She extends her hand, the Ghost sitting in her palm.

"The trigger-happy one behind me is Kal. He's a Guardian." Said 'Guardian' steps forward into the light. His hair is longer than most, reaching his chin, and he sports bulky armour that make him look twice his size. He reaches for her and she glares at his hand, opting to get to her feet by her own power thank you very much. Kal shrugs.

The Ghost makes a sound, drawing attention back to it. "And I'm his Ghost." It floats up proudly, extending its outer shell to reveal a small sphere inside it.

"If that Ghost revived her, does that mean she's a Guardian too?" Kal says and looks to his own Ghost once it has reassembled itself.

The Ghost flies up, faces Kal. "We should see the Speaker, he'll know." 

Gunshots echo in the distance.

An inhuman screech.

She scans the horizon, picking out the source of the noise.

Fallen.

She reaches for a knife, a weapon, something. She remembers her purpose, it's coming back to her now. A war machine, made to fight. Once dead, her past life forgotten, now revived to fight again.

Kal's hand clamps around her wrist, his grip strong. How much of that is the armour, she wonders. Regardless, she struggles against it, she does not trust him. He does not let go.

"Move. I have a ship nearby."

She glares. Nods once.

A war machine without a weapon. She can't fight, not here, not like this.

"Device," she calls to the other little Ghost, hovering where she used to be. "Come." It shakes with excitement, eye widening and narrowing in quick succession. It scoots over to her, taking up a place at her shoulder. The quiet hum it emits is calming and absently, she reaches up to pat it. It clicks in response.

Kal drags her into a run, gun still drawn and he all but throws her forward ahead of him while he guards the rear. The ship is small, barely enough to carry two passengers. It's her only escape. Oh she could try and make it on her own, figure something out as she goes. She has a vague recollection she was good at that. But with nothing to defend herself with, what's she going to do? Punch the Fallen to death?

She climbs into the ship, Kal still on the ground firing off rounds into the wave of Fallen. When the last one falls, he leaps onto the ship. He presses buttons, brings the top down, starts up the engine.

"That was too close, there's been so many Fallen hanging around these days," Kal's Ghost remarks. It turns to her. "What's your name? Since we never got the chance to ask."

She opens her mouth to answer. Stops. Has to think. "Annie. My name's Annie."

"Pretty name," Kal says. "Any idea how long you've been out for?"

She shakes her head.

The ship has ascended into the air by this point and is moving through the sky at a reasonable rate. She looks down, sees the Fallen on the ground. Looks up and into the distance. There is a large sphere hovering above a city of lights.

"That's the Traveller, so I'm told. The Speaker can explain better than I can."

"It is old, yes?" she says, gaze lingering on the giant mass.

"Golden Age. The Darkness took most of its power, now it just sits there." He glances to her. "Like I said, the Speaker at the Tower can explain better than me. I'm the brawn, my job is to hit things or shoot them. Whichever works."

"You're a Titan?"

Kal nods. "How'd you guess?"

"I vaguely recollect something about them."

"Nice to see you two getting along better, especially if she's a Guardian too." The Ghost turns to Kal. "It won't help a working relationship by pointing a gun at her on your first meeting."

"Little Light…" Kal glares at his Ghost. The Ghost narrows its eye slot and is equally as unimpressed by the nickname given.

"I said not to call me that," it mutters, floating over to her own Ghost. It on the other hand has remained silent, not leaving her place at Annie's shoulder. She doesn't push, it will engage with her when it feels ready.

The ship flies across dead, abandoned cities. There is no Light left in these derelict buildings, nothing but Fallen. Dregs, Vandals, here and there a Shank hovers around scanning the landscape. She stares out across the land, the cities now lost to the Darkness. Ahead of them is the Last City, the one shining light of hope. The Tower looms above, stretching into the sky, through the clouds and out of sight. It is a marvel, humanity's last bastion.

"We're nearly there." 

Kal's Ghost teleports them out onto the Tower.

The Tower is teaming with activity. Guardians run back forth from the Awoken Cryptarch that's set up shop in the corner, others storing equipment in the digital vault ahead of them. Some do their dealings with the frame on the balcony between the two trees, some teleport back to their ships with their Ghosts. It is a hive of activity and it makes Annie dizzy to watch them for any length of time.

To her relief, Kal notices this and gently takes her arm, guiding her to the Speaker he claims will have the answers. She straightens her back, looks ahead of her. Whoever heard of a war machine that was afraid of her surroundings?

They walk up the stairs, across a bridge and up more stairs. The Traveller peers through the window that runs from floor to ceiling, an equally large device spinning in orbit, an orrery of a sort. Birds fly off the bridge, a frame sweeps the floor while others pass them by and nod in greeting. There is a steady drip, drip, drip of water into a puddle and it draws Annie's attention. The sun gleams in the puddle and by the time she looks back, Kal is already halfway up the stairs.

The Speaker is engrossed in his work, a pile of books on his desk, more sitting in a misshapen heap on the floor while his own Ghost hurries to record the Speaker's mumbling. Kal waits to be noticed, then after a few moments, clears his throat. The Speaker looks up from the scroll he has been reading, eyes falling to Annie and the Ghost still hovering at her shoulder.

"Speaker, I found this Ghost on Earth. She woke up this Exo," Kal says by way of explanation. "We think she's been chosen to be a Guardian."

The Speaker steps away from the desk, and in a few short strides, he's standing in front of her. His eyes narrow behind his mask. It bothers her, the mask, the robes. She can't see his face, can only judge by what little body language he displays. The lack of emotion, of reaction, puts her on edge and not for the first time, does she wish for a gun.

"You did right to bring her here, Guardian," the Speaker says. "I believe Zavala has a mission for you."

Kal takes the hint, nods to her and leaves.

"There have been many Ghosts finding new Guardians recently. This is good, if we are to push back the Darkness and defeat it." The Speaker walks down the stairs, his Ghost floating behind. Annie follows. "You have questions, I'm sure. Guardians always do when they're first awoken."

"Does it speak?" Annie asks.

"I speak for it." The Speaker stops at the barrier and leans forward against the railings. "There is much I could tell you, much to be explained to you. Yet there is much I cannot."

Annie frowns. "Why?"

He turns to face her. "Because there is no time. Because the Darkness grows ever closer to the Last City, to the Traveller. Because we need the Guardians, all of them, out there to destroy it before it destroys us."

She narrows her eyes. "So who will explain it?"

"You will learn, like the others have just why the Darkness is a threat." The Speaker turns away, waves to her over his shoulder. "Go and rest, Guardian." He leaves the same way he came down, going back to his desk and books to gaze at scrolls that to her have no meaning.

She leaves, tries to find her way around and ultimately fails. She sits down on the plaza, watches the ships come and go, dropping off their Guardians. The city lights up as night gathers, the Traveller engulfed in shadow. The Tower however does not sleep. Guardians still come and go as the night drags on and she finds herself dozing off. She shakes herself awake, staring into the distance, to the Traveller, the clouds that form around it.

"I thought I'd find you here," a voice says from behind her.

She's on her feet in seconds, hand at her waist. She will remember by the time the sun comes up she still has no weapons.

Kal stands there, significantly smaller now his armour is gone, though his presence is no less. Over his arm there is a blanket and he holds it out toward her. "The nights are getting colder, figured you might need it."

She takes the proffered blanket with a nod and sits down once again. Kal sits next to her, puts the blanket around her shoulders. She stiffens somewhat.

"Sorry," he pauses, "Do Exos feel the cold?"

She blinks, frowns at him.

"Sorry. Stupid question, of course you don't."

"Why? Because I am a machine?" she says. She pulls the blanket tighter around her shoulders, as if this will prove her point.

Kal shakes his head, his Ghost dips and lets out a sigh. "He's very good at putting his big Titan feet in it," it tells her.

There's a small laugh and she snaps her head round. It's her own Ghost. Finally it has deigned to make its presence known. "You've been very quiet, Device."

Her Ghost's eye widens and it hides behind her shoulder.

"I think she needs a bit more time."

"You mean not all Ghosts are as talkative as you?" Kal says, a small smile on his face.

She smiles then offers her hand to her Ghost. It floats up and hovers over the palm of her hand. Kal's Ghost on the other hand is glaring at him from the safety of her other shoulder.

"How did it go with the Speaker?" Kal says, ushering his Ghost back over towards him.

She shakes her head. "Futile. He expects me to be glad of half-truths." She fiddles with a loose thread on the blanket. "I'm no further forward in my purpose, in what it is to be a Guardian."

Kal tilts his head to the side. "To fight the Darkness, to protect the City." He shrugs. "At least that's the way I've always looked at it."

"You are a Titan though, yes? Honour and duty are encoded into you as much as my being a thing of war," she says. "There is more to it than that."

"You make it sound as if you're an object, like a gun or knife."

"Am I not? You use those tools to fight, I am also to be used in this war, against whatever this Darkness is."

Kal frowns at her. "Annie, you're far more than that. You're not made to be picked up and thrown away when your usefulness has ended." He stands up, brushes his knees off then offers his hand to her. She takes it and he pulls her to her feet. "I'm sure you'll find more meaning in it as time goes on. You find your way to the dorms all right?"

She opens her mouth to answer, stops and rubs the back of her neck, eyes darting away.

The frown disappears and there's another smile on his face. "C'mon then. I'll guide you there."

She takes the blanket from her shoulders and goes to hand it back to him. He shakes his head. "Keep it, call it a 'welcome' gift."

He guides her through various rooms and corridors, all of which look the same to her. There are other Guardians, some in armour, others in more casual clothing, one or two with fluffy bunny slippers. She has to admit they do _look_ comfortable. Kal deposits her at an empty room then bids her good night, wandering off to his own room. She enters it. It is homely, if anything. The main amenities are accounted for, bed, food dispenser, digital vault to store belongings or salvage from missions. Adequate for a Guardians' needs.

She lies on the bed, blanket still in her grip and shuts her systems down for the night.


	2. Fire Team

**Fire Team**

She watches the world through the scope of a rifle, picking off the Dregs that pass her way and uses Vandals for target practice. It has been days since she was sent on this mission. Her superior, Cayde-6, issued it to her.

"I send all new Guardians on this. Patrol the Cosmodrome," he told her. "Don't give me that look, it'll give you a lay of the land, help you get your bearings."

Annie raised an eyebrow. "I was unaware I was giving you any sort of look."

"Trust me, I know that look. I've had it plenty of times over the years." He smiles at her, perhaps meant as a reassurance. "Look, you'll do fine, I've no doubt about that. Just get out there and try and enjoy the hunt. You'd be surprised how much of a stress-relief it is shooting things."

And here she lies, on her belly, watching a Vandal Captain stalk the landscape. She lines up her shot, sucks in a breath and holds it. Squeezes the trigger. Takes him out in one shot.

The gunshot echoes for miles and she wishes for a silencer. No doubt it has alerted whatever other Fallen in the vicinity. She slings the gun over her shoulder, takes her pistol out of its holster and makes her way to the next beacon she can see blinking in the distance.

She reaches the beacon, picks up the encoded message. To kill a designated number of Fallen, her Ghost will report her progress back to the Tower. Her Ghost however, has remained all too silent. It makes her wonder if the little device will ever speak to her. She has tried to initiate conversation, speaking to it as the other Guardian, Kal, does to his. Her Ghost does not respond, shying away from her attempts.

She follows the sounds of the Fallen and finds a drop ship releasing the next onslaught of Fallen onto the desolate Earth.

There is already a Guardian there, shooting, dodging the Fallen that descend to the ground. She recognises him immediately.

It is Kal.

She holds back, draws out her scout rifle, aims, fires. It takes Kal by surprise and when he turns, sees it was she who fired the shot, a grin breaks out on his face.

They form a team, flanking the Fallen, Annie taking to higher ground while Kal draws them toward her. She fires shot after shot, Dregs collapsing like a sack of potatoes, stopped forever by her gunshot. A Captain is dropped next, and it teleports away from Kal. Kal sprints after it, shooting all the way. The Captain teleports again and again, Annie finds it hard to line up a shot. Kal is growing frustrated, she can see as much through her scope. His face contorts. He scowls then drops his gun. His Ghost shrinks back, as if it knows what is coming next.

She watches Kal race after the Captain, unarmed. He stands toe-to-toe with it and hits it with an uppercut to the jaw. The Captain responds, hitting Kal with both of its left limbs, sending him staggering back a few steps. He grins, punches it again, electricity flickering around his fist. This time the Captain is the one who staggers. She shakes herself from her stupor, lines up her shot and takes him out.

"Aw come on! I was having fun," Kal calls to her, his arms thrown out to his sides.

"You were having a fist fight with a Fallen, you idiotic Titan!" she answers. She climbs down from her position and stands next to the Captain's corpse. She nudges it with her foot, its gun falling from its grip and onto the ground.

"That's what he does, he likes punching things," Kal's Ghost tells her, narrowing its eye at its Guardian.

Kal rolls his eyes. "Did you get enough for that patrol beacon?"

She frowns at him. "How did you…?" Cayde's words return to her. Kal was a new Guardian too. "Indeed. I believe that was the last patrol I needed to do. I should report my progress back to the Tower."

"Need a lift? I've a few bounties to cash in and I'm heading that way anyway." He reminds her of a puppy, eager to please and eager for companionship. Has he really been alone all this time? How long has he been a Guardian?

She nods, accepting his request. She can't bring herself to refuse.

He leads her back to his ship, talking all the way of his own mission, of the bounties he has gathered and what he's expecting from the Frame at the Tower. Annie nods, listens without comment. Her Ghost hovers alongside them, staying at her shoulder, ever silent.

"I warn you now, he's a terrible pilot," Kal's Ghost tells her. It has been hovering between Kal and Annie, holding back to catch her Ghost's attention only for it to shy away.

"You'd have me drive like an old woman."

"You drive too fast."

"One day you'll thank me for driving fast."

Annie stifles a laugh, particularly when Kal's Ghost glares at her too. "Everyone's ganging up on me."

They reach Kal's ship, landed at angle, looking as if it is ready to topple over. The Ghost teleports Kal aboard, waits for Annie's Ghost to do the same. The little device hovers nervously, flitting back and forth. It takes a few seconds then Annie is aboard the ship, Kal already starting the engine and preparing to take off.

They reach the Tower soon after. Kal leads the way, something Annie is thankful for. Until he disappears and no matter where she looks, she cannot find him. Something round impacts against her head and it bounces across the ground, rolling away.

"I found the football!" Kal calls over. He's standing next to a pile of boxes, looking proud of himself.

"Why?"

He deflates somewhat at her lack of enthusiasm. "Never mind. Come on, we'll get you to Cayde and I'll cash these bounties." He picks up the ball and kicks it, full force to another Guardian, who punches it with their Fist of Havoc to another Guardian who is waiting at the side-line. Annie shakes her head.

"Hey, if it isn't my favourite Guardian!" Cayde greets her. He straightens up from the table in the middle of the room, arms outstretched, and ignores the raised eyebrow he receives from the Warlock Vanguard, Ikora Rey.

Annie manages a smile. "I bet you say that to all the girls."

"He does," Ikora adds.

Cayde shoos Ikora away. "So, how'd you get on with that? Good? De-stressed?"

Annie nods. "It was surprisingly relaxing."

"Told you it would be. Your Ghost has filled us in on the details, you don't have to. So!" He claps his hands together. "Ready for the next assignment?"

She opens her mouth to answer when Kal appears beside her. He holds up a hand, glances to her and winks. "Actually Cayde, could I steal her for a bit? She's a hell of a shot." His hand lands on her shoulder and she struggles to stop a grunt escaping her from the weight of the armour he wears.

Cayde nods. "Go ahead. Just be sure and bring her back in one piece." He leans forward and lowers his voice. "Take me with you."

"I heard that Cayde," Ikora answers, looking up from the tablet she is working on.

"Oh, come on! Just once."

"No. There's reasons why you're to stay here and not out on field missions."

Kal quickly guides her out of the room, past a bellowing Lord Shaxx and Eris Morn consumed with gazing at the orb in her hand. They return to the plaza, Banshee-44 muttering as he tinkers with pieces of a gun. Kal keeps walking till he's at the other end and leans on the small fence. He looks up at the Traveller, enveloped in clouds, hovering over the City and gazing across the plaza.

"So, what is the real reason you wished me to join you?" Annie says, joining him at the fence.

He shrugs. "It's as I said, you're a hell of a shot and we seem to work well together."

"That's it? There must be more to it surely."

Kal sighs. "You're more than a bit suspicious of me."

"That might be since you pointed a gun at her on your first meeting," Kal's Ghost adds, "I said it wouldn't help a working relationship." The Ghost receives a glare and he retreats over to Annie's own Ghost.

"I like your company and it's…nice to have someone else around." He raises an eyebrow. "Does that suit as a better answer?"

It is Annie's turn to raise an eyebrow and she turns away from the Traveller to face Kal. "You want companionship? From me?" She turns back. "What use does a war machine have with a team mate?"

When it is out, Annie regrets it. She watches Kal's expression crumple to disappointment and she feels a wave of shame wash over her. These emotions she has not felt in so long only serve to irritate her, and she tries to squash them, put them out of her mind.

It does not work.

Kal turns and walks away. Annie sighs then follows him.

"Do you have a mission in mind? That you want us to team up on?" she says.

Kal stops and faces her once more. "I do. It's to clear out some Fallen and I think both of us could get it done in half the time."

Annie nods. "All right then. Call this a trial run. If it goes well, then I will join you. If not, we part on our own separate ways." She sticks her hand out. "Agreed?"

The disappointment, sadness, disappears in seconds. He clutches her hand and shakes it. "Deal."


	3. Death

**Death**

Watching Kal sprint after the Fallen, Supercharged and ready, is a marvel to behold. Lightning crackles around his fist, the air is electric, and she can feel the thunderous effect from his Storm Fist even from her corner where she is holed up. She picks off the Fallen, Hive, whatever else comes out from the doors while Kal's Ghost works on lowering the barrier.

She stays out of the way, ordered by Kal to pick the Hive Thralls off whenever they came near. Her scout rifle rarely runs out of ammunition, both this and Engrams being dropped by the Thrall when they are stopped by death.

She watches Kal, now shooting down both Fallen and Hive. They seem to swarm upon him, coming from all directions. Silently, she pleads with his Ghost to hurry up, to lower the barrier so much quicker.

Annie leaps out of her refuge. She moves through the air, up to higher ground, presses her back against a nearby crate. A Captain appears, skulking along with its camouflaged lackeys, Vandals with heavy weapons.

She looks through her scope, watching for the landscape to shimmer when the Vandals walk by, trying to make its way to Kal. She will not let it. She shoots, stabs, anything that comes near her. Thrall lie dead at her feet, Fallen Dregs in amongst them. They come in waves and she moves again, this time to Kal's position. It feels like an eternity she's been fighting.

"Anything?" she says and turns to shoot the oncoming Thrall.

"I've got it!" the Ghost shouts.

Kal nods once and aims his gun into the last stragglers left. Between them, they pick them off, taking a moment to recover. Both her own Ghost and Kal's swoop around them, a quiet hum emanating while they restore shields and heal any injures either might have.

"All right?" Kal says, once his Ghost has finished.

Annie nods.

"Sure? Don't want another minute to get a breather?"

"Kal!" She pauses, before her words sting him further. "Your concern is…touching. But I am fine." She points to the door his Ghost has opened. "This is the way forward, yes?"

Kal nods and takes point. He creeps through the door, gun aimed and ready. With such bulky armour, it is amusing to watch him try and be stealthy. She goes up behind him, pats his shoulder to let him know she is nearby. He motions forward, she pats his shoulder once to confirm.

Outside, the wind blows against her cheeks, and there is a smattering of snow on the ground. The area is clear for the moment, their goal at the other end of the open expanse. They split up, Annie on the left, leaping between abandoned warehouse crates and buildings, Kal on the right, sprinting up to an open building.

It all seems too easy.

There is a distant rumbling, engines humming and a Fallen drop ship glides into sight and hovers over the exit. Vandals, Dregs fall to the ground. Then the ship opens its cargo hold and deposits a mechanical, spider looking thing.

"Walker!"

From the urgency in his voice, Annie can tell this is somewhat more of a threat than the waves of Fallen and Hive they have encountered thus far. She takes his warning seriously, watches as he gets into cover himself then makes her own way to cover. She kneels in one of the shanty-looking buildings, her own camouflage cloaking her appearance. She waits there, listens to Kal's gunshots, the sound of screeching from the Fallen and the shots fired from the Walker.

She creeps out, stabbing any Fallen that dare to get in her way. She is flanking the Walker, her camouflage still going. It's only when she steps out, scout rifle drawn, does her cloak fall away. The Walker turns to face her, firing shots off in her direction. She dodges, aims, shoots and knocks off some of the metal plating covering its leg. She aims for the exposed machinery, draws her sniper rifle and fires one, two, three rounds before the Walker heaves its body around. From the front, grenades the size of footballs come barrelling toward her. She dives out of the way, back pressed against a pillar.

And that's when it happens.

The Walker takes its attention away from her, turns to its right. She is distracted by Fallen when another wave makes their way toward her. The ground shakes beneath her feet, lightning crackles around her.

Kal.

She turns just in time to see him fall. He doesn't get back up.

His Ghost floats above him, segments detached, the sphere standing guard over its fallen comrade. Annie goes between crates and other cover, making her way over to her teammate. Her sniper rifle is discarded, exchanged for her scout rifle and she stands over him.

"I can revive him," a voice says, female.

Her head snaps around. Her Ghost.

"What?"

"I can revive him," her Ghost repeats and expands the triangles making up her outer shell. "Keep me safe for a few seconds, he'll be fine." Without waiting for an answer, Annie's Ghost floats over Kal's prone form. She stays there, Annie doing as ordered, protecting both her Ghost and Kal.

Kal gasps.

She looks down. His eyes are open, he's reaching for his gun.

But he was dead.

He fell.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," Kal's Ghost chides, fondly, going by the smile on Kal's face.

"It worked didn't it," Kal answers, winking at Annie.

"You fell," she says.

"Later, huh? We have a Walker to finish off," Kal tells her, immediately returning to battle, rocket launcher unsheathed from his back.

Annie doesn't need telling twice. Her sniper rifle is drawn again, the main engine of the Walker exposed and Kal fires his rocket launcher. Annie joins him, reloading as quickly as she can manage. It falls, explosions blast, short, sharp.

Their mission, their provisional time together comes to an end. A giant Servitor, Sepiks Prime, the last opposition standing between them and the completion of this mission. Once more they spilt to either side, flanking Sepiks. Whenever Annie tries to line up a shot, Sepiks is there, its eye lined up. She ducks.

Fallen come at her and she keeps them away from Kal. He alternates between the rocket launcher and his assault rifle, using what scant time he has to run from cover to replenish his ammunition. When the last Fallen has breathed its last, she too focuses her attention on Sepiks and she switches from her sniper rifle to a machine gun, firing shot after shot as Sepiks darts from locations rapidly, a vain attempt at escaping their fire.

Sepiks falls with an explosion and Commander Zavala tells of their victory. Kal scavenges the last ammunition cases scattered across the ground, while Annie holds out her hand to her Ghost.

"You haven't spoken since we met, Device. Why now?" she says, her Ghost hovering above the palm of her hand.

"You needed help, it's my job."

"I'll meet you back at the Tower, yeah?" Kal calls over.

She nods once and her Ghost teleports her onto her ship.

Kal finds her hours later, sitting on the plaza, blanket around her shoulders. She stares at the Traveller, the city below, the various ships coming and going. She watches the city light up, the shadows on the Traveller, the clouds surrounding it.

Kal sits next to her, gives her a slight nod.

"You died," she says, turning to face him. "I saw it, there was no life in your eyes. You were gone."

Kal nods. "I did. Your Ghost revived me though, and here I am."

"How?"

Kal looks up to the Traveller. "It's what happens when you become a Guardian. The Light, the Ghosts, they keep us alive." He draws one knee up to his chest and leans his chin on it. "When you don't have to fear death, it makes you feel more alive."

"Death, life, Light. Is this what it means to be Guardian?" She turns to face him. "Is that my purpose?"

"Does it feel right to you?"

She sighs. "I am a war machine. I was built to fight." She glances down at her hands, the holster around her waist, the knife at her side. "Would you mourn me if I were gone?"

Kal nods. "Of course I would. But that won't happen. Not if I'm here, not when you have your Ghost."

Annie can't help but smile. "Is that a hint about your original intention? That we should become a team."

Kal smiles too. "You can read me rather well." He stretches his leg out. "I thought we made a good team, we work well together."

"And you would have me join you, on your missions from Commander Zavala?"

Kal's smile widens into a grin. "I would. We could be war buddies, fighting against the Darkness."

She must admit, having a companion to watch her back would be sensible, to know there is someone there should she fall. The concept of dying, of being revived by her Ghost, the very notion of it chills her. Would it always work? Would her Ghost continually heal her, revive her? This she does not know, and judging from Kal's Ghost it has happened often to him, he has fallen when fighting, his Ghost has revived him time and time again. It has become habit, routine, he falls and returns.

"All right, I will join you," she says and stands up.

The blanket falls to the ground, Kal picks it up and drapes it around her shoulders. "There's a few more missions I have data on. Unless you have some too, in which case we can pursue them."

She shakes her head, pulls the blanket tighter. "I have patrols to do, if you wish to accompany on those."

He nods. "Gladly. It'll be a chance to get used to one another."

"Very well. We'll leave in the morning."

With that, Annie leaves, patting Kal on his arm when she is passing.


End file.
